Coyotes relocating to Salt Lake City

[Darkwing Puck]

I would be curious:

how much hockey related revenues were lost because of the smaller arena and the crap show that happened in Arizona the last two years

VS

how much 'new' hockey related revenues were gained between now and the start of the season with the new team.

I don't have a source off the top of my head, but supposedly the team was actually making more money playing out of ASU then they were when they were in Glendale.

EDIT: I totally misunderstood your post. In the short term, the Utah franchise will be making money hand over fist selling jerseys and other merch (though I'm not sure if that's considered hockey-related revenue).

[Darkwing Puck]

You could say something similar to other NHL cities that they have bounced back into. Sometimes, it's a different owner. Sometimes it's a different building. Sometimes it's different government support. Who knows.

I don't buy that hockey just doesn't work in Phoenix/Arizona. What's different about that market that would cause the NHL to fail while it succeeds in other "non-traditional" markets like Vegas, Dallas, Tampa, and Miami? In this case, I think it's absolutely the owner - or owners, rather. Both Steve Ellman and Alex Meruelo, on whom most of the responsibility for the failure of the franchise lies, were more interested in more interested in building stuff around an arena (condos, entertainment districts, etc) then arena itself. Meruelo, in particular, also didn't have any real connections to the Phoenix area (his other businesses are mostly in Nevada and California). This seems to have hurt his ability to work with local politicians and interest groups. Combine that with the fact that he wanted to build more than just an arena and it's pretty easy to see why the Tempe vote failed. They don't go into it in depth, but the PHNX Coyotes postgame show from last night covers this a little.

Meruelo also just seems to be an arrogant ass. If I remember right, it was under his watch that Shane Doan was more or less pushed out of the Coyotes organization and opened the door for him to join the Leafs.

So, while I think that hockey can succeed in Arizona, I don't think it can succeed with Meruelo as the owner. I fully expect him to not even show up to the land auction on June 27th. He's turned his $400 million investment into a billion dollars. I suspect he's going to take his money and run. I also fully expect him to relocate the Roadrunners to Reno as soon as he can. But, honestly, while it means that fans in Arizona will have to wait a little longer to get their team back, I think it's probably for the best if Meruelo just goes away. Five years is not enough time for him to repair the damage he's done to the fan base. I think if he gets another team it will inevitably fail because fans just won't support him.

What they really need is a local ownership group with Doan as the face. The guy's connections in Arizona are incredible. He was a pallbearer at John McCain's funeral. If he can't make hockey work in Arizona then and only then will I believe that it's not possible.

[rataylor22]

Honestly, the way this guy has operated his whole tenor...How will Arizona support a franchise he owns when he exercises his expansion option?

Because what other option do they have? The diehards will be happy to have their franchise back, even if they hate him, and the casuals will not care about the ownership stuff it will just be another entertainment product in town.

The success or failure of whatever future team is in Phoenix will be 100% dependent on the location of the arena. If you haven't been to Phoenix it's hard to describe how impossible that arena location is.

For context, I think every Canadian city, save for MAYBE Toronto and Montreal (and I want to heavily stress that maybe) would have attendance issues if their arena was similarly located. It would be Edmonton having their arena in Leduc, Calgary in Chestermere, Montreal in Sainte-Julie, Toronto in Milton, Vancouver in Anmore, and absolutely zero transit access. It was a disaster. Easy to go for 8 Cardinals games, near impossible to go on a Tuesday after work.

[LawMan]

https://twitter.com/pierrevlebrun/st...v6yH2tZ-_mOBPw

Pierre Lebrun
Ryan Smith won't rush into a new team name. It will be Utah as opposed to Salt Lake City in the team name, that much has been decided. But as far as the nickname, SEG will take their time with it, even if it means starting next season without new nickname...

Utah has trademarked:
Utah HC
Utah Hockey Club
Utah Blizzard
Utah Fury
Utah Venom

Solid chance they play as Utah Hockey Club for a year, then get a nickname, and sell twice the merchandise?

[2014olympicgold]

Because what other option do they have? The diehards will be happy to have their franchise back, even if they hate him, and the casuals will not care about the ownership stuff it will just be another entertainment product in town.

The success or failure of whatever future team is in Phoenix will be 100% dependent on the location of the arena. If you haven't been to Phoenix it's hard to describe how impossible that arena location is.

For context, I think every Canadian city, save for MAYBE Toronto and Montreal (and I want to heavily stress that maybe) would have attendance issues if their arena was similarly located. It would be Edmonton having their arena in Leduc, Calgary in Chestermere, Montreal in Sainte-Julie, Toronto in Milton, Vancouver in Anmore, and absolutely zero transit access. It was a disaster. Easy to go for 8 Cardinals games, near impossible to go on a Tuesday after work.

Oakland As is what happens when fans hate their owner.

[pmorrow]

Interesting note, but not surprised considering they want to revive the Coyotes in the future: Utah will not be taking the records of the Coyotes/Jets franchise with them.

[kovalchuk17]

https://twitter.com/pierrevlebrun/st...v6yH2tZ-_mOBPw



Utah has trademarked:
Utah HC
Utah Hockey Club
Utah Blizzard
Utah Fury
Utah Venom

Solid chance they play as Utah Hockey Club for a year, then get a nickname, and sell twice the merchandise?

Frankly, I liked Washington Football Team more than Washington Commanders lol

Utah Hockey Club/Team is probably the right move since this is happening so fast. Winnipeg had a historic team name available when they got Atlanta in this fashion. Extra merch sales is a nice bonus

[2014olympicgold]

Utah has now sold "up to" 11,000 season tickets. The stadium can only hold 12,000+ (reported) for a hockey game.

The City of Glendale wanted the Coyotes to sign a 20yr deal (in 2021) with Gila River Arena but Meruelo said no, so they got kicked out of the arena.

[rataylor22]

Oakland As is what happens when fans hate their owner.

Fans hate Oakland because the owner has been trying to leave for a decade+. Presumably if Merulo brings a team back, he wont immediately be trying to leave again.

[Darkwing Puck]

Frankly, I liked Washington Football Team more than Washington Commanders lol

Utah Hockey Club/Team is probably the right move since this is happening so fast. Winnipeg had a historic team name available when they got Atlanta in this fashion. Extra merch sales is a nice bonus

Apparently they've also trademarked the Utah Yeti. Which, just, please god, no.

I heard Utah Swarm mentioned on Twitter which I thought was a really good name. It invokes both hockey (players swarming the net) and bees, which are so important to Utah that a beehive is on the state flag.

But I do agree that there is a good chance they play next season (or at least a good chunk of it, I'm not sure if a team is allowed to change names mid-season) as the Utah Hockey Club. This is never going to happen, but I'm imagining them playing as the Utah Hockey Club for five years and then buying the Coyotes name/brand from Meruelo after he fails to secure an expansion franchise.

Which actually brings up an interesting question. If (when) Meruelo fails to get an arena built and the five year window elapses, what happens to the inactive Coyotes franchise? Does it just disappear? Does ownership revert to the NHL who can then sell it to someone else?

Utah has now sold "up to" 11,000 season tickets. The stadium can only hold 12,000+ (reported) for a hockey game.

The City of Glendale wanted the Coyotes to sign a 20yr deal (in 2021) with Gila River Arena but Meruelo said no, so they got kicked out of the arena.

Right now all they're selling are $100 refundable deposits. They haven't given any actual ticket prices yet, so I'd imagine that a fair few of those 11,000 deposits will be refunded. Still, that's an impressive number for less than 24 hours.

EDIT: Apparently they're up to 20,000 deposits now. What's really interesting is that less than 10% of those are from Jazz season ticket holders, who would get a discount on the actual tickets.

As for Glendale, I've long wondered if Meruelo didn't deliberately get the team kicked out in an attempt to move to a better location while simultaneously hoping to make himself look like the victim.

[2014olympicgold]

https://twitter.com/pierrevlebrun/st...v6yH2tZ-_mOBPw



Utah has trademarked:
Utah HC
Utah Hockey Club
Utah Blizzard
Utah Fury
Utah Venom

Solid chance they play as Utah Hockey Club for a year, then get a nickname, and sell twice the merchandise?

Utah Phoenix's. Too on the nose?

[finnys_fanatsy]

hate every one of those